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CommentsThe start of a court-martial for a Fort Lewis officer who refused to deploy to Iraq last year has been moved from July 23 to Oct. 9, a spokesman at the Army post said Monday morning.
Both the government and the defense for Lt. Ehren Watada requested that the date be pushed back, and the military judge agreed, according to Joseph Piek, the Fort Lewis spokesman.
The October time frame, if it stands, would put Watada back in court around the same time his Stryker brigade – the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – is scheduled to return from Iraq after a 15-month deployment.
The postponement does not come as a big surprise. Earlier this month, Watada’s new attorneys tried to get military judge Lt. Col. John Head to disqualify himself from the case and also tried to invoke Watada’s right not to be prosecuted twice for the same crime, known as double jeopardy.
Head rejected both motions, and Watada’s attorneys, Kenneth Kagan and James Lobsenz, immediately filed notice that they will appeal the double-jeopardy ruling.
Head is the same judge who declared a mistrial in Watada’s first court-martial in February after he questioned whether the officer understood a pretrial agreement he’d signed.
Watada is charged with missing his unit’s movement to Iraq in June 2006 and four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer for negative comments he made about President Bush and the war.
He faces up to six years in prison and dismissal from the Army if convicted.
Watada contends he had a duty to miss the flight with his Stryker brigade. In public appearances and court documents, he argues the war is illegal and that he would be party to war crimes if he participated in any way.
Had he gone to Iraq with his unit, he would have been a fire-support officer in one of the companies of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment. He would have coordinated artillery and other firepower in support of soldiers in combat.
Instead, Watada is performing administrative duties at Fort Lewis while the legal process continues.
Matt Misterek: 253-597-8472
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